Wooing Miss Crowell
by Solo Ensemble
Summary: Johnny Zacchara sets out to prove to Nadine Crowell that he's boyfriend material - but more importantly, that he's a normal guy after all.
1. Prologue

**Note – **Yup, another Nohnny story! I figured it was time to do a full length one since the only other full-length one is The Right Girl, and it's been getting lonely. This Is Your Song is a shrimpy little playmate. :-P This story will be about 76-77 mini-chapters (think anywhere from 3-6 pages each, instead of my usual 10-15 pages each). The alternate title of this story is **75 Things A Man Should Be Able To Do. **Each title banner will be one item in the list, instead of picture banners, which get boring. And how do y'all like my forum banner? ;-) Hee hee.

This goes out to my dear pals **Amber** and **Kerri** and **Chikn**, who love the Nohnny just as much as me, even though Amber's a drunk whore who's succumbed to the raw power of Jolivia. Let's throw things at her.

**What You Need To Know: **Nadine is a nurse at General Hospital, Johnny is the son of mobster Anthony Zacchara and little brother of Claudia Zacchara. Nadine has a few family connections we haven't seen on the show, so just go with that as it comes up. Everything is basically AU, just to be safe. This is a breezy, light, cute story, so have fun.

Wooing Miss Crowell | Prologue

"That depends," Nadine said, eyeing him warily even as her blue eyes twinkled with amusement. "Will turning you down get me fitted for cement shoes and thrown into the harbor?"

"No, of course not," Johnny scoffed as he leaned against the counter of the nurses' station at General Hospital. "That's not my M.O. – everyone knows that's what Sonny and Jason do. I'm far more creative."

"Ah," she laughed, flashing him that pretty smile he loved. "Okay, so turning down your offer for a date will get me…sealed alive in the cornerstone of one of your currently under-construction buildings?"

He smirked and leaned closer. "You're getting closer to discovering my creative genius, Crowell, but the answer's still no. You won't be sealed alive or fitted with cement shoes or drowned in cement or whatever else you can remember from those old gangster films of yours."

"Good to know," she chirped, her expression becoming more serious now. "Because, while I'm flattered that you want to go out with me, the answer's still no."

His shoulders slumped a little, but Johnny Zacchara was nothing if not persistent. "All right, I can respect that. But I'm sure you agree that you owe me the courtesy of explaining why not."

Nadine licked her lips, trying to figure out a way to explain it so that he wouldn't take it personally. Truth be told, she was also trying to convince herself, to buck herself up. Because when a woman was standing a couple inches away from _the_ Johnny Zacchara, one hundred and seventy-five pounds of muscle, charm, and pure sex, with him looking at her with those warm brown eyes, it was kind of hard to remember why this was a bad idea.

She clicked her nails on her charts, organizing her thoughts. "Well…Please don't take this personally."

He was disappointed but trying to hard it, and Johnny shot her a wry look. "Oh, okay, then."

Nadine rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. It's just…look, there's nothing wrong with you. Absolutely nothing."

"Good to know," he smirked, mimicking her response to him earlier.

"It's just…I know what this is. And…it's not what I'm looking for." She bit her lip, hoping that he would understand without her having to say too much more. Alas, no such luck, judging by the bewildered look on his face.

"I…I've never had a fling," Nadine said slowly, feeling her cheeks turn warm. "Or had a casual relationship. It's just not my thing. I'm not comfortable with that. I'm not knocking anyone who does that sort of thing, but it's just not for me.

"I look for relationships," she shrugged. "It's just how I am. I don't end every first date by calling the guy The One or anything, but I'm looking for something solid, something a little more long-term. Something…serious?"

Johnny's brows furrowed. "What makes you think-"

"I'm well aware of your reputation," Nadine smiled gently. "It doesn't lessen my opinion of you or anything, but it just leads me to believe that we're not exactly suited for each other. But, again, thank you so much for asking. It was really nice of you."

He grumbled something under his breath and nodded, pushing himself away from the counter. She sure was blunt when she had a mind to be, but that was, again, one of the things he liked best about her. It was really confusing: how all of her best qualities seemed to backfire on him. Like she really had any business being so hot if she wouldn't let him do anything to her.

The thought made him smirk and Johnny gave himself a brisk shake. He'd never been one to take anything lying down and he knew that if he just put forth the effort, he could change her mind. No one was more persuasive than a Zacchara – especially when there was something valuable on the line.

"Thank you for being so honest," he smiled, and the wickedness in his grin made her blink. "I appreciate it. I guess you're right – some people just aren't boyfriend material."

"Not that there's anything wrong with that," Nadine said slowly, still watching him in open confusion.

"Not at all," Johnny grinned, backing away toward the elevators. "I'll see you around, Nadine."

She nodded absently, watching as he got into the elevator to go down, and had to wonder why he was smirking like that.


	2. Give advice that matters in 1 sentence

**Note – **I've ditched the item banners because just writing the item out makes it easier to cross-post on .

**Wooing Miss Crowell | 1**

_**~ Give advice that matters in one sentence. ~**_

**.: Kelly's Diner :.**

He spotted her as soon as he turned the corner and hit the walkway up the Kelly's. Nadine was dressed in a pair of hemp pants and a tank top, perfectly appropriate for the bright, sunny summer day, but her disposition was anything but.

She kept kicking at the leg of the table, grumbling under her breath as she periodically blew her bangs out of her face like an angry horse, and she was so cute that Johnny just stopped and watched her for a moment before ambling up to her.

"Hey." He leaned over to the side a little so that he was in her line of vision. "What's got you so cranky?"

Nadine smiled and blushed a little at having been caught. She sat up straighter in her chair and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Nothing. I – nothing. Forget I…Forget you saw any of that."

"You seemed upset," he shrugged. "Hardly anything to be ashamed about. I've never seen you get upset unless you had a valid reason. You laugh most things off – something must have happened. Any way I can help?"

"I don't think so," Nadine sighed. "And, hey, I'm surprised you're even talking to me. You know, after yesterday."

Johnny shrugged and slipped his hands into his pockets. Since she'd rejected his offer to take her out to dinner (one of many similar requests), he'd formulated a plan to get her to change his mind. He didn't know what it was about Nadine Crowell, but even though he'd avoided relationships like the plague, hanging onto her for a long while didn't seem like the worst thing in the world. It was actually something he'd realized he wanted.

"No hard feelings," he smiled. "So tell me – what's up? What happened?"

Nadine sighed and Johnny took the moment to grab the other chair and pull it closer to her so their knees were mere inches apart. This hadn't been part of his plan, specifically, but part of his plan _was_ to listen to her and help her out whenever he could – after all, that was what 'boyfriends' did, or so he was told – so everything worked out.

"The people at the hospital are driving me nuts," she ground out, throwing her hands up in frustration. "You'd think there'd be some reprieve, but, no. Everywhere I turn, random psychos are trying to interact with me."

Johnny laughed. "Random psychos, huh? Seems a little vague."

"Doctor Ford," Nadine ticked off, using her fingers. "He knows medicine, but he doesn't know a thing about how to deal with people. He'll tell someone one thing, and then someone else something completely different and then act surprised when they come to him to try to get it ironed out. It's like he wants us to fight it out amongst ourselves, and, I'm sorry, but I expect a more professional work environment than that."

"Reasonable," he agreed, bouncing his knee as he sat with his hands clasped between his legs, his stance wide.

"Epiphany." Another finger went up. "She's not even my supervising nurse. _I _am the supervising nurse! For my team, I mean. She has to supervise Elizabeth and Leyla and all those girls – I have to supervise Regina and all the other girls in Pedes. We're colleagues, on the exact same level, but for some reason, she thinks it's cool to order me around and undermine me and scold me in front of my own team and everyone else."

Johnny frowned at that. "That shouldn't be happening. Have you told her off? Gone to Doctor Ford about it?"

"I haven't told her off yet because I'm afraid she'll sit on me," Nadine admitted. "And Doctor Ford is useless. Although, I'm telling you, one of these days, I'm just going to tell them both off. Then they'll both sit on me."

He smiled at that. "Okay, Doctor Ford and Epiphany. Anything else?"

"Patrick Drake," she groaned, burying her face in her hands. "I can't move two feet without him hitting on me. He thinks he's God's gift to women – and, I admit, he's easy on the eyes and he's really smart and really funny – but, come on."

Johnny didn't like this grievance all that much.

"And, I'm sorry, but the last I heard, he had a girlfriend," Nadine continued, waving her hand in the air. "Can you imagine? How disrespectful is that?"

His lips hard curled down into a tight grimace. "What an asshole."

If anyone was going to hit on Nadine and try to get into her pants, he'd like to think that it was going to be him, thank you very much.

"God, what is it with these womanizing losers who go around carving notches on their bedposts and thinking-" She stopped abruptly and meekly lowered her hand. "…Sorry."

Johnny burst out laughing. "You know, I think I'm more insulted by the fact that you so easily associated that remark with me than the actual remark itself."

Nadine laughed despite herself. "Well, you know what I mean. I mean, you're single, you can behave however you want. But Patrick has a girlfriend, and he _still_ behaves like a bachelor. There's nothing more off-putting than that. I mean, grow up already."

"Agreed," he said readily enough. "Anyone else we're stringing up a pole, here?"

"The board members," she said. "They had their monthly meeting yesterday and when they walked out into the hub to take the elevators down, they saw me and a couple other nurses – Elizabeth, Leyla, Regina, I think. And there was a bit of a lull in the day so we were just talking as we put away the charts, and the next thing we know, we're being called into Doctor Ford's office because the board members think that the nurses are lazy and gossipy."

Johnny made a face. "Yeah, that sounds like them. They're always complaining about the dumbest things – and things of which they have no knowledge.

She made a face right back at him. "I never saw how you fit into those guys. You've got to be the youngest General Hospital board member by, like, forty years, easy."

"You're probably right," he laughed. "It makes board meetings interesting. They never say anything, but I can tell they're always checking out my pants to see if I'm wearing them too low."

Nadine had to smile at that. "Wouldn't surprise me. That bogus complaint, along with Patrick and Epiphany and Doctor Ford…I'm just a little testy today."

"Nothing wrong with that," he shrugged. "You can't be happy all the time. You'll get ulcers."

"I wish I knew how to deal with it," she sighed. "I feel like I'm going about it all wrong."

"How are you going about it?"

"I'm ignoring it," Nadine admitted. "I'm bitching about it to you, someone completely removed from the situation. I'm just setting myself up to explode one day, I know it, but I don't know how else to deal with it. Doctor Ford is my superior and he can fire me if he feels like it. Epiphany and Patrick are my colleagues, and I have to work with them for a long time to come. And the board members – well, I don't want to be on any of their bad sides."

"Okay, first things first," he said, moving closer so that this time, their knees did bump. "Yes, Doctor Ford is your superior, but you're hardly an employee-at-will. He can't just fire you because he feels like it. Even if he wants to prove something like insubordination or negligence or incompetence, there's so much red tape that the nurse's union will make him jump through. Not to say he can't get around it – like, by saying that budget cuts are forcing him to eliminate positions – but he's not just going to tell you to pack your shit and get out if you go to him with a valid problem."

Nadine was nibbling her lip as she watched him.

"Second, yes, Patrick and Epiphany are your colleagues and you'll have to work with them for a long time, and that's all the more reason that if they're doing something that's pissing you off, you need to let them know."

Especially that Patrick asshole.

"Third, the board members, don't worry about them." He offered her a lop-sided smile. "They don't remember names or faces. You've seen them – they're doddering old fools with the mobility of redwoods. Besides, even if you do somehow get one of them to put a bounty on your head, you've got me on your side."

"Do I?" she asked, amused. "And why would you stick your neck out for me like that, if push came to shove?"

"I think you know the answer to that," Johnny smirked, making sure to pile on the charm and mischief. He might have been imagining it, but he could have sworn that Nadine shivered a little despite the warm summer day.

"All I'm saying is, don't be afraid. Be concerned, but not afraid."

She nodded at his sound advice. "What I really need to do is just find a way to deal with it before I lose my mind. Aunt Rayleen used to say, make your fences horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong."

Ha, her corn-pone aunt _would _say something like that.

"Oh, she did, did she?"

Nadine nodded, not noticing his amusement. "Yup. She used to say something about perseverance, too. I wish I could remember it."

"Well, I don't have Aunt Rayleen's book of quotations lying around," Johnny said, making her smile, "but I'm good for some advice now and then."

"Yeah?" Her blue eyes were twinkling. "What's your advice? Lay it on me."

He shrugged. "When you reach the end of your rope, make a knot and hang on."

The corner of her mouth curved up and he wasn't sure if she liked that or if she thought it was the dumbest thing she'd ever heard.

"I mean," he said hurriedly, "it's what I always try to do. Even if you get pushed to the end of your rope, so what? Hang on. Stay in the game. Don't just quit and let them walk over you whenever they want. Don't let them beat you like that. Just don't accept that."

She was smiling wider now and he was starting to panic. The last thing Johnny needed was for a cute girl to think he was a complete, bumbling idiot.

"Think about it this way," he offered. "Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly. But the bumblebee doesn't know that, so it keeps on flying."

"Bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly?" Her lips were pursed, giving her the most adorably befuddled look. "Why not?"

He rubbed his clammy palms together and tried to explain, absently wondering how the hell he got started on bees. Goddamn bees. With their goddamn buzzing.

"Well, all winged bugs flap their wings through a wide arc, an obtuse angle, something around 165 degrees," Johnny started as she nodded along. "Frequency varies with size: the larger the bug, the slower its wings beat."

Nadine was still nodding. "Yeah, they have an exhibit like that at the zoo, in the bird house. There's a giant set of plastic wings and you have to step on the weighing scale and try to make them flap. Only you can't, of course, even though you don't have to beat them that fast. It's meant to show how strong birds are relative to their size and wingspan."

"Exactly," Johnny replied, glad that he didn't have to stumble through some watered-down explanation. Nadine was one of few women he'd chased around who could actually hold her own in that respect. "It's the same thing. Relative to their size, mosquitoes beat their wings faster than a fruit fly. Mosquitoes beat their wings around 400 times a second and fruit flies beat their wings about 200 times a second. Birds, even small ones like hummingbirds, only beat their wings about 50 times a second."

"Right, right."

"But bumblebees, which are, like, 80 times bigger than fruit flies, let's say, beat their wings 230 times a second at an arc of only 90 degrees, which is nothing. So, really, they shouldn't be able to fly, but they do."

"How are they able to fly, then? Because they can get most of the lift going about halfway through the stroke?"

There was a 'that's what she said' joke in there somewhere, but he didn't stop to indulge it.

"Not really. I think they make up for the extra work by stretching out the wing stroke but not adjusting the beating frequency, something weird like that," he said, brushing it off. "But you see what I mean, right?"

"I do," Nadine replied. "I think Aunt Rayleen would like that."

Johnny grinned. "Well, if Aunt Rayleen likes it, then I've got it made."

She laughed and idly jostled him with her knee, her blue eyes dancing. "Seriously, though, thank you."

"I didn't do anything."

"I know," Nadine shrugged. "But you listened. And you tried to help. So, thank you."

"My pleasure," he smiled back. Damn, but he was good. He'd win her over in no time if he kept on being awesome like this.

A waitress came out of the restaurant with two menus. "Sorry, we had a little accident in there. One of the girls broke, like, two hundred plates. I'm so sorry. Here are the menus. Can I start you guys off with anything to drink?"

"Iced tea, please," Johnny replied, grinning cockily at Nadine at assertion that, yes, he would indeed just _love_ to join her for lunch.

Nadine returned a crooked smile, shaking her head, and accepted the menu. "Lemonade, thanks."

Johnny settled into his seat and watched her over the edge of the menu. Oh, yeah, he'd have Nadine Crowell eating out of the palm of his hand soon enough. All he had to do was keep it up. Hopefully, being boyfriend material wouldn't be as hard as he'd once thought.


	3. Tell if someone is lying

Wooing Miss Crowell | 2

**~ Tell if someone is lying. ~**

**.: Port Charles Park :. **

It was her first Fourth of July in Port Charles and Nadine loved it so far. Elizabeth and Emily had invited her to sit with them in the park for the festivities. It was basically one big town picnic, and Nadine loved that because it reminded her of days back on the farm. Everyone would gather and eat burgers and dogs and drink hard lemonade and dance in the Scotts' huge barn until late.

Emily had spread out a checkered blanket with Nikolas right next to Elizabeth's. Cameron and Jake were already playing happily with their toy cars as the two women got all the food out from their picnic baskets. Nikolas had spotted his aunt and excused himself to speak with her, and Elizabeth kept checking her phone for an update from Lucky, who was busy working on a case and told her he might not make it.

Not too far away, Spinelli and Maxie were setting up their own picnic area. Well, Maxie was setting it up. Spinelli was sitting in the shade with his laptop. Jason Morgan was with them, as he always was, and Carly and Jax weren't too far off with their little boys. Jax was helping Michael and Morgan set up while Carly glommed onto Jason's side, talking a mile a minute, and it wasn't a strange sight to anyone.

Nadine kept the little boys occupied and before long, everything was set. The first band was starting to set up on the stage, and they were in for a couple performances before the fireworks began over the harbor.

Jake was on her lap, happily chomping away on one of his toys, and Nadine was genuinely enjoying herself. She didn't know all of these people that well yet, despite having been in Port Charles for almost a year, but town picnics had a way of bringing everyone together. So far, she'd chatted with Alexis Davis, Ric Lansing, Sonny Corinthos, Sam McCall, and even Edward Quartermaine, who'd been complaining about hippies but was actually referring to the high school students.

She'd even met a new young couple, Mr. and Mrs. Parker, who seemed to hit it off quite well with Elizabeth and Emily. They had a little puppy that Cameron just adored, and the two of them had even stopped to play with Jake and take some pictures together with the group. It was just lovely. She certainly hoped she ran into them around town again.

Even the Zaccharas were making an appearance. Claudia was friends with Luke, who was something of local royalty in this town for whatever reason, and she was standing with him and his daughter, drinking lemonade and talking. Lulu kept looking around, no doubt scooping out the scene for Claudia's attractive younger brother, but Johnny was nowhere to be seen.

"We're going to go talk to Leyla," Nadine called out to Elizabeth, gesturing to herself and Jake. The young mother nodded and went back to tying Cameron's shoe. Nadine hopped up and situated the baby on her hip, making her way over across the sweet-smelling grass to her friend.

"Hey, you," Leyla smiled and she put her things back into her purse and stood. "And hello to you, handsome."

Jake gurgled and went right back to chewing on his squeakie toy.

Nadine watched her dust her jeans off. "You leaving already? Aw, why?"

"I have plans with my sisters later tonight," Leyla shrugged. "I figured I'd stop by, hang out with Patrick and Robin for a bit, and then get going."

"What'd you think?"

"I had a good time," she smiled brightly. "Robin says they do this every year, and it's a lot of fun. Patrick said that the first year he was here for it, they had a mini Taste of Port Charles going on that turned out to be pretty…interesting. Especially when it was discovered that the secret ingredient in Ms. Larson's chili was Mr. Larson's cologne, courtesy of their two-year-old."

Nadine laughed, jiggling Jake when he started fussing, wanting to get down and crawl around. "Yeah, so glad I wasn't here for that."

Leyla smiled and gestured toward the gates to the park. "Walk me out?"

"Sure." They made their way through the massive cluster of picnic blankets, stopping every few feet to say hello or goodbye to someone, and before long were standing at the gates that led into the park. Leyla's car wasn't too far off and she couldn't afford to stay much longer.

"I'll see you at work," was all she said as she turned with a smile. "Have fun – enjoy the fireworks!"

"We will," Nadine replied, waving Jake's pudgy little hand for him. "Bye."

She watched her friend drive off and stood there, her finger trapped in the baby's fist. "You're looking a little red, little man. We should probably get your sun hat before you get burned."

Nadine turned to head back into the park where Elizabeth and all the rest were and then stopped when she saw Johnny Zacchara standing in front of her casually, his hands tucked into the pockets of his dark jeans.

He sent her an easy smile and she tried to ignore the quick flutter in her stomach, telling herself it was just because she hadn't expected to see him there.

"Hey." His dark eyes twinkled as he ambled closer. Jake let go of her finger and wrapped both hands around his toy once more, staring up at the stranger open-mouthed. Johnny tickled him under the chin and then pulled his hand away, looking back at her. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah, actually, I am," Nadine managed to smile back, kicking herself for the momentary pause. After all, it was just Johnny. Nothing to get flustered about. "You?"

He shrugged. "Just got here, haven't really had much of a chance to do anything. I think my sister's around here somewhere…"

Nadine jutted her chin over to where Claudia was standing. "She's over there, with Luke and Lulu."

Johnny turned to look and then quickly turned back, shuddering. "Okay, remind me not to go over there."

She couldn't help but smirk. "Why?"

"Lulu," he half-hissed, rolling his eyes. "I swear, that girl's been stalking me. Everywhere I go whenever I'm in Port Charles, she's somehow magically there."

Nadine tsk-tsked under her breath. "Poor thing. Must be hard work being so irresistible."

Johnny grinned wolfishly. "I make it look easy, though, don't I?"

She laughed despite herself and cleverly avoided responding to that. "You staying for a bit?"

"I was thinking I might bail," he replied honestly. "I don't really have anything to do here. I'm only in town because I had to pick up a few things from my business manager. Besides, I don't really know anyone here. Correction: I don't really get along with anyone here."

"What, you mean, you're not going to go over there and toast marshmallows with Sonny?" She shook her head sadly. "He's been waiting for you for so long, too."

Johnny rolled his eyes. "Sure, while I'm at it, why don't I play a game of kickball with Jason, too? That'd be fun and not at all suicidal."

They laughed at that, making Jake coo, and Johnny snapped his fingers in front of the little boy's face to entertain him. Sure enough, Jake lost interest in his toy and tried to reach out to grab Johnny's fingers.

"He's a sharp one," Johnny murmured as Jake held on and tugged. "Alert. Elizabeth Spencer's kid, right?"

Nadine nodded. "Yup. I've been hanging out with him for a bit. Elizabeth invited me along with her and Emily and Nikolas. Kind of a family outing, I guess."

Johnny snapped his fingers again, watching as Jake's eyes lit up. "Uh-huh. His dad here?"

"Lucky? I don't think so."

Johnny's dark eyes slid coolly to the side where Jason was talking to Spinelli. "Oh. That's too bad."

The cryptic remark puzzled her, but Nadine let it go. "Jake and I have been having a lot of fun at our first town picnic, haven't we?"

He giggled when she jostled him on her hip, making Johnny smile, and clapped his hands.

"Happy kid."

"Very," Nadine agreed brightly. "Even-tempered. Very mellow. Aren't you, Jakey?"

"Excuse me."

Elizabeth pushed her way in between the two of them and hastily grabbed Jake, holding him close to her chest as he gurgled. She flashed them both a tight smile, and the tension in her stance was obvious.

"I…I think he needs to be fed. Thanks for watching him, Nadine."

And with that, Elizabeth hurried off back to her blanket where Emily and Nikolas were waiting with Cameron. Nadine frowned, puzzled at the way they all watched her, and Johnny discreetly stole another glance at Jason Morgan. Sure enough, he was standing there, hands on his hips, glaring at him. He probably wasn't pleased that a Zacchara had gotten so close to…_Elizabeth's _son.

Johnny coughed once, clearing his throat.

"That's weird." Nadine was still frowning. "She just fed him, like, an hour ago. How many bottles does that kid go through, I wonder?"

It was obvious to him that Jake hadn't needed to be fed; Elizabeth just didn't want him hanging around young mobsters. Someone really needed to tell that woman that try as many might, the apple never landed far from the tree.

But he didn't want to tell Nadine any of that at the risk of making her feel awkward or embarrassed, so Johnny just shrugged it off.

"There goes your date."

"Clearly," she laughed. "Shame. Where am I supposed to get another guy on such short notice?"

He grinned and moved a step closer, his dark eyes glittering. "Ah, the eternal question pops up yet again…"

She caught the predatory glint in his eyes and smiled bashfully, backing off just a step. "Johnny, listen…"

His eyes were hooded, smoldering, his smile still teasing, and he was the very picture of guilty innocence. "Hm?"

Nadine chuckled again, self-consciously, and her hand hesitantly came up to rest lightly on his chest. "Look, I just thought…"

His smile widened. "Yes?"

She let out a short breath of mild irritation and just spit it out. "I thought we agreed that there wasn't anything between us."

"Did we?" A look of practiced horror came across his face. "Oh, no, no, I don't think that's what we agreed on at all."

Nadine sighed, wondering why boys had to make things so difficult sometimes. "Johnny…"

"We agreed that you wouldn't go out to dinner with me when I asked you last week," he replied smugly. "The subject of whether or not there exists anything between us didn't come up…not that it needed to."

Her breath caught in her throat as he eased closer, her hand inadvertently applying more pressure to his sculpted chest. "I…I don't think…"

"You can't tell me that you don't feel anything for me." The corner of his mouth hooked up, daring her to challenge that. "That you've looked at me and never once felt anything other than a desire to be…how did you put it?…oh, yes: _friends_."

He said it like it was the most ridiculous thing in the world, and Nadine's eyes narrowed. "Now, you listen here-"

"Because I can't say the same about you," he murmured, easing closer still. Her fingertips skittered down his chest, coming to rest rather provocatively on the edge of his belt, but Nadine didn't notice. It was impossible to be aware of anything else when faced with his mesmerizing eyes and warmed by his husky words.

"So go ahead," he murmured, tipping his chin up so their noses bumped. "Tell me that you don't feel anything for me that extends beyond the realms of a platonic relationship."

"I…" Okay, this really wasn't the best time for words to fail her. "I don't…"

Nadine didn't get the chance to finish that thought because his lips swooped down to claim hers. Johnny wasn't aggressive: he gave her every opportunity to pull away if she wanted to, if he was wrong about her not being attracted to him. It wasn't much of a choice, though; nothing could have pulled Nadine away from him at that moment.

His lips moved sweetly over hers, warm and masterful and coaxing, and only when she responded, however gently, did Johnny's arms come to wrap around her waist. He eased a little closer, not wanting to scare her, and kept kissing her just as sweetly.

Finally, he pulled away so they could breathe. His warm breath fanned out over her lips and their noses bumped again, adorably awkward contact.

His eyes slowly fluttered open and he watched her fondly, his fingers brushing the underside of her chin. Nadine's eyes opened at the contact and she looked up at him searchingly. Johnny shot her a lop-sided grin and reluctantly pulled away. The kiss had confirmed everything he'd already thought and assured him that, even if he made an ass out of himself, he was at least on the right track.

"Happy fourth of July, Nadine."

Johnny looked at her one last time over his shoulder before ambling away, leaving the park and disappearing from view. Nadine just stared after him as she wondered what had just happened, and she didn't even notice her fellow townsfolk staring none too discreetly at her, wondering the same thing.


	4. Take a photo

**Wooing Miss Crowell | 3**

**~ Take a photo. ~**

**.: Outside Kelly's Diner :.**

He walked up the walkway to the little diner for lunch and saw her standing by one of the tables, talking to a young couple that he'd never seen before. The man was tall and lanky with brown hair and the woman was similarly lanky with curly blonde hair and a wide smile. She had a camera in her hands and the three of them were chatting away about something.

As Johnny drew closer he noticed a stroller standing by Nadine. In it sat little Jake Spencer, happily kicking his feet in the sunshine. He stole a quick glance inside and sure enough, there was Elizabeth with her other son, placing an order.

He ambled up and smiled at the three of them, his eyes lingering on Nadine. The nurse wore a pale blue sundress and had her hair up in a ponytail, and looked as cool and comfortable as anyone could on an eighty-five degree day.

"Hey."

If he wasn't imagining it, her eyes actually lit up a little. "Johnny, hey. Have you met the Parkers?"

"Can't say that I have," he said smoothly, extending his hand to the man first. "Pleased to meet you."

"This is my friend Johnny," Nadine said, and he crinkled his nose at that pesky word, "Johnny Zacchara. He lives in Crimson Pointe, which is the next town over, but he's here all the time because he has property in Port Charles and is on our hospital board."

The couple smiled at him.

"Johnny, this is Bill Parker and Marion Parker, Mary for short." She looked back and forth between them as they all shook hands. "The Parkers just moved to Port Charles two weeks ago. They're on Cherry Blossom Lane in the Branch Brook subdivision there."

"Oh, I know that area," he replied. "You picked a good part of town – that's where all the other young families are. Patrick and Robin bought a house there a month ago, right?"

Nadine nodded. "Yup – you guys remember Patrick Drake and Robin Scorpio, right? They bought a house there shortly after they got engaged but haven't really gotten around to moving in."

"Carly and Jax are down the street," Johnny continued. "They own the Metrocourt, that big hotel on Main street."

"We stayed there when we first came to town," the woman smiled. "We were still trying to find a good place and didn't really have our bearings. It's a lovely hotel."

"Carly and Jax used to stay there but after they got married, they moved into their house on Cherry Blossom," Nadine explained. "They have kids – two boys. It made more sense."

"Of course."

"And…correct me if I'm wrong, but don't Elizabeth and Lucky live there?" Johnny mused, gesturing to the stroller where Jake was looking up at him. "This little guy's parents."

"They do," Nadine replied brightly. "Elizabeth rents a house just across the street from the Parkers, actually."

"Oh, we've come to know Elizabeth very well over the past two weeks," Bill smiled. "She brought us lasagna on our first night in the new house, and she's introduced us to a lot of the other families on the street. She's a wonderful neighbor."

"A very nice woman," Johnny agreed, his eyes moving back and forth between the couple. "So…what's with the camera?"

"This? Oh." Mary blushed slightly and held up her camera. "Bill and I are kind of into scrap booking."

"Bill's a photographer," Nadine filled in. "And Mary is a journalist. She's worked at the _Washington Post_ and he's shot for _W_ magazine."

They brushed off her praise. "It was just some filler work," Bill explained. "I only handled a couple spreads on a contract basis."

"We're hoping to parlay our experience into positions with the _Port Charles Gazette_," Mary shrugged. "I have the experience in human interest pieces – I'm sure I'd fit into the features section, or the arts and entertainment, and Bill's got a portfolio full of great shots. We'll see how it goes – keep your fingers crossed."

This seemed to amuse Johnny, and he contained a smirk as he reminded himself to have one of his men do a background check on these two. "We will."

"How's your scrap book coming so far?" Nadine wanted to know.

"Oh, it's great," Bill replied. "We were thinking of contributing some of the shots to the town newsletter. I heard they're always on the lookout for pictures. We've got a bunch of the new house, some of us with the neighbors, that sort of thing."

"We thought we'd come down here and take a few pictures of Kelly's, just for fun," Mary smiled.

Johnny smiled back. Yeah, he was going to have to get someone on that background check sooner rather than later. No one took pictures of a diner _just for fun. _"Sounds like a plan."

"We'd love to get one of you two," Bill offered. "Some new friends to add to the book."

"Sure, why not?" he agreed affably, loosely looping an arm around Nadine's waist. Though puzzled, she leaned in, too. "How's that?"

"One more for safety," Bill replied, taking another. "Let's get little Jake in on this, too. He and his brother are so photogenic, you know."

"Oh, don't let me forget." His wife was tapping him on the shoulder as Nadine picked Jake up out of the stroller. "I have to give Elizabeth the prints of the pictures we took of all of us at their house. She said she might want to frame a couple."

"We can drop them by later," he suggested, focusing the lens. "We'll be dropping by tonight for dinner, anyway."

Jake was fussing, so Johnny took him from Nadine and held him so that Jake's back was against his chest and his little feet swung freely. The irony of the moment wasn't lost on him. It was actually kind of funny, the thought that if Jason Morgan came strolling around the corner and saw this, he'd shoot first and ask questions later.

But again, Johnny had always been told that he had a morbid sense of humor.

"That's lovely," Bill smiled, snapping a picture of the three of them. "One more for safety."

Johnny saw Elizabeth taking her order from Mike and handed Jake back to Nadine. "I'd love a copy of those, if you don't mind."

"Of course not. I'm sure I can get them to you."

"Why don't you give me your card?" he suggested. "That way we can stay in touch."

Bill plucked a card out of his wallet and handed it over, but Johnny caught the uneasy glance that passed between him and his wife. "There you are."

"Thanks." He pocketed it quickly. It didn't really matter: he had the resources to find Bill and Mary Parker even if they didn't give him any information to go on. He just wanted to see how they behaved when asked to present identification, and his questions had been answered. "You know, I can take one of the three of you if you like."

The couple exchanged glances and Mary nodded brightly after a moment's pause. "That'd be lovely. We'd like that."

Elizabeth chose that moment to come out of the diner and Johnny turned, enjoying the panic-stricken look on her face.

"Elizabeth, there you are." He waved her forward. "Apparently, we're taking pictures. Get in the shot."

She gulped and looked around at the rest of them, but couldn't very well refuse such an apparently harmless request. So Elizabeth set the bag of take out down on the table and, tightly gripping Cameron's hand, squeezed into the shot. Nadine remained holding Jake, and Johnny expertly framed the shot and snapped the picture.

"One more for safety," he said dryly, watching Bill and Mary look at Jake. "Okay, how about one of just Elizabeth, Nadine and the boys?"

Bill and Mary were amenable to the idea and moved out of the shot. Before the girls could protest, Johnny was already framing the shot. Elizabeth forced a tight smile and fidgeted when he was done.

"Bill? Mary? How about one of just you two?"

As he knew they would, the young couple declined politely. "Oh, that's fine, we don't want to bother you anymore. We have tons of pictures of just us."

"Thanks," Bill repeated, taking the camera from Johnny. "I'll make sure to get you a copy of the ones of you and Nadine."

Johnny nodded as the two excused themselves and walked away, and Elizabeth couldn't get away fast enough, either.

"It was good seeing you two," she said, hastily grabbing her bag and Jake's stroller. "We have to be going. Cam? Cameron, _come on_."

Nadine waved at them as they left, then turned to Johnny. "Guess it's just us."

"Looks that way," he agreed with a smile. "Have lunch with me?"

"Sure," she chirped, taking a seat at one of the tables behind them. "Funny running into Bill and Mary. They seem nice."

He clicked his fingers on the edge of his chair. "Sure do."

"Although…" Nadine wrinkled her nose. "I don't know, I don't want to be mean or anything, but it's a little weird, the way they take so many pictures. Isn't it?"

Johnny smiled, realizing she'd picked up on it, too, although she had no reason to be overly suspicious like he was. "Not mean at all. And yeah, it is a little weird.

"But who knows?" He leaned back in his chair and stretched out his legs, happy to be having a leisurely lunch with her in the shaded courtyard outside Kelly's. "It might be somewhat instinctive for them to always want to snap pictures. Bill _is_ a photographer, after all."


	5. Score a baseball game

Note: How ironic that after I post this, I have to go score an actual baseball game for the neighborhood kids? :P My life, you guys.

**Wooing Miss Crowell | 4**

**~ Score a baseball game. ~**

**.: Crimson Manor :.**

"Where are you going?"

"Port Charles."

Claudia rolled her eyes. "You still stalking that little nurse?"

"I'm not stalking her," Johnny scowled. "And no, I wasn't even planning on seeing her today."

"But you were still going to scope out the hospital, Kelly's, and the docks to see if you could 'accidentally' run into her," Claudia filled in knowingly.

His eyes narrowed as he reached for his keys. "…Shut up."

"Okay," his sister called, trotting after him as he headed toward the door. "I'll shut up if you tell me one thing."

"Yeah? What?"

Claudia leaned against the doorjamb, flicking a lock of her hair as the gentle midday breeze ruffled through it. "What in the world's so great about the little milkmaid?"

Johnny shrugged awkwardly. "I don't know. I just like her."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "…You don't _like_ girls. You try to _do_ girls."

That brought a scowl to his face. "I have to go."

"Wait!" She hurried down the steps after him as he made his way to his Tesla. "John, come on. I just want to know. I'm serious, I swear."

"I'm serious, too," was all he said as he slid into the car.

~*~*~*~*~*~

**.: Port Charles Park :.**

Johnny was actually proud of himself. He'd gone to his offices in Port Charles and spent a few hours signing things for his business manager, then headed out for the day. He didn't stop by the hospital, he didn't take the long way and drive past her apartment, he didn't stop by Kelly's hoping she'd be there for lunch. All he did was get his work done, stop at the little café for some iced coffee, and take the long way through the park back to the lot where he'd left his car.

After all, Claudia had a point, and Johnny really didn't want Nadine to feel like he was stalking her. Sure, he happened to bump into her a lot and she didn't really seem to mind, but that didn't change the fact that he'd _planned_ on accidentally bumping into her a lot. It was starting to border on creepy and desperate, and those were two words he never wanted associated with himself.

Besides, the two of them had made good progress. They saw each other more, and the encounters were more casual than him constantly pestering her to go out with him, so that was something. And he'd kissed her, too, on the fourth of July.

What he needed to do now was ease off a bit and let things happen. It was difficult for him: he was used to making things happen instead. All his life, if he wanted something, if he needed something, if something didn't meet with his satisfaction, he got in there and changed it, made it work with him. That strategy would hardly work with Nadine, so he was understandably out of his element.

But it was a pleasant summer day and he had his iPod and an iced coffee as he walked through the part, so that went a long way in helping him not stress about it. He put his ear buds in and cranked up the volume, ambling down the winding path, past the fountain and the rink for the roller bladers and skateboarders.

He had almost crossed the entire park when he came upon the baseball diamond toward the back, close to the community center that abutted the property. He noticed a couple kids playing in his peripheral vision but didn't give it much thought as he continued walking, his footsteps timed to the beat of the song playing in his ear buds.

And that was why Johnny was so surprised when a couple hard pellets hit him in the thigh. Looking down, he saw that they were wild berries that grew in some of the nearby hedges and when he looked over, he saw Nadine waving to him.

Johnny grinned instantly and yanked the buds out. "Hey. Didn't see you there."

"Obviously," she called out good-naturedly. "I've only been yelling your name for five minutes over here."

"Sorry." He gestured to the ear buds as he looked around at the little gang assembled near her. Nadine wore a pair of distressed jeans – not the kind that he used to wear, nine hundred dollar works of art carefully ripped and shredded by handheld blades, each loose stitch painstakingly done. No, these jeans were ripped and shredded from consistent and loving hard use and activity.

She had on a raglan t-shirt with her hair in a ponytail and a baseball cap perched on her head. Her hand was stuffed into an old catcher's mitt, her hair was sticking out in crazy directions, and she had dirt smudges on her cheeks, but she was beautiful.

"What's going on here?"

She gestured to the little boys that were kicking at the dirt, anxious to get back to the game. "My Little League guys."

This was the first he'd heard of this, and Johnny sauntered over. "Really. You coach Little League?"

"I volunteer with the community center in my free time," Nadine replied brightly, settling a hand on the head of a little tow-headed boy rubbing his nose. "It's just for fun."

"Looks fun," Johnny said, crossing his arms over his chest. When he was younger, there was nothing he wanted more than to join the Little League in Crimson Pointe. He managed to get himself a uniform and would try it on after locking his bedroom door. He kept his mitt under his mattress to break it in. He kept his lucky baseball in an opaque vase so that no one would know it was there. When his father was away on business, Claudia would sneak out behind the stables with him and help him work on his throws in the pasture as the horses grazed.

But Anthony had nixed that idea as soon as he caught wind of it. Joining a team sport like that was a frivolous activity that was well beneath the heir to his empire. The very first time Johnny played the great American pastime, ironically enough, was when he was at Oxford University, well across the pond. The guys in his boarding house found out that their Yank friend had never played a game and from then on, they played every weekend, rain or shine or famous London fog.

There was a time when he'd have given anything to be in the shoes of these little boys.

"Guys, this is my friend Johnny," she was telling them. "It's cool if he hangs with us, right?"

"Are you going to coach us, too?" one of the boys wanted to know.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't be very good at that," he shrugged. "I didn't get to do what you guys are doing – I didn't have a pretty girl teaching me how to bat."

Nadine blushed and quickly moved on, which never failed to amuse him. "We were going to get to a little practice game since we've been working so hard on batting and throwing since school let out, but we need someone to keep score. Do you think…?"

"Sure, I'd be happy to," Johnny replied easily. "I can do that much."

"You know how to score, right?" a dark-haired boy asked suspiciously, making him smirk. Little brat. "It's not just about keeping track of points, you know."

Johnny put his hands on his knees and bent down so that he was at eye level with the kid. "Player position, batter line-up, total at-bats, hits, runs, pitcher list, outs, combination of defensive players in an out, basepath and methods, fouls, errors, balks, walks, advances, steals, end of an inning, extra innings, batting around, and substitutions. How'm I doing, slugger?"

The boy gave him a sour look and moved a little closer to Nadine, which, again, amused Johnny terribly. If he was a little knee-nibbler, he'd have a crush on his hot baseball coach, too, and be wary of any random loser that came around.

"Great," Nadine beamed, oblivious to all of the male posturing going on. "My play book is over there – so's the pencil. Come on, guys, let's go!"

Johnny sauntered over to the bench where her stuff was spread out and grabbed the notebook. It took him a few minutes to set up a makeshift scorecard, and Nadine used that time to organize her boys into teams and explain to them how things would work. And then it was time to play.

Nadine kept the position of pitcher, and there were a couple times that Johnny almost missed making his tick marks because he was so caught up in watching her in movement. She was a study in grace, the way she lifted her knee, reared back, wound up, and let it fly. She wasn't the best, really, but she was quite good regardless and looked entirely comfortable.

He had no trouble imagining her on her Aunt Rayleen's farm, playing with the rest of the kids after a long day of chores. Pitching was clearly something she grew into rather than studied and worked at consistently like he had during his spare time at Oxford.

Johnny sat in the shade, finished off the last of his coffee, and kept careful score, all the while idly wondering why she never told him about how she volunteered with these kids. She'd been doing it all summer, and he had no idea. There were probably a lot of other similarly important things he didn't know about her, things he'd missed out on in his singular, dog-with-a-bone pursuit of her.

Good thing for him that this master plan of his pretty much ensured that he'd soon get to know things like this. He'd decided that the key to the whole thing was taking an interest in her interests. It sounded corny, but the idea improved when he thought of it – her, really – as a puzzle. Nadine Crowell was this mysterious puzzle picture, and so far, he had the face, the boobs, and the ass worked out.

It was a crude allusion, perhaps, but also apt. He had the physical attraction: there was never any doubt about that. He had the basics: she was kind, sweet, generous, and funny. Boobs and ass, face. Those things were worked out. All that remained was…everything else. He liked to think that after today, he could add at least an arm and a hand for her pitching and volunteer work. Putting the rest of the puzzle together would be fun. After all, he really liked puzzles.

It was a shorter game than official standards, of course, but the kids still looked tired after they finished. Nadine gathered them all together and congratulated them and gave them a few pointers as Johnny scrambled to get the scorecard in order so that he could turn it over to them. He hoped it didn't need to be proven, because while he was confident in his scoring, he wasn't _that_ confident. He might have missed a tick or two that time that he was busy checking out Nadine's butt.

"All right, let's see how you did," she teased, yanking the notebook from his hand and flopping down on the bench next to him. The kids milled around, wiping their brows, messing with their caps, looking like they were in desperate need of slurpees or squishes or whatever it was that children drank these days.

"Let's check the top of the last inning," she murmured, trying to make sense of his shorthand and see if she could follow along. "Hm…"

"Number nine led off with a single, 1B, line to first," he helped her out, leaning in close and pointing to the tick marks. It also gave him an excuse to smell her neck. "Uh…Number thirteen hit a fly to center, then number four hit a double that drove the pinch runner home, so we've got a 2B and an RBI. Colored the diamond in for the run. Number seven hit a single, number four gets to third, then we had a fly to right. Number four tried to come home but was tossed out, bringing it to 5-2 DP. Right field to catcher, double play, bam."

She was watching him as he explained his notations for the last inning and it was only when Johnny turned to look at her that he noticed just how close their faces were. Her eyes were glittering and her lips pinched into an amused smirk.

"All right, guys, you heard our score keeper. Good game, everyone. You all did great."

"You really did," Johnny added. He'd been impressed by how they stuck it out in the heat of the summer afternoon. "I hope it's okay if I – well, we can take them for ice cream or something, right?"

The kids perked up at that and looked hopefully at Nadine, who glanced at her watch. "You know, I think we can make it. We still have some time before we're supposed to be back."

"Let's go to Kelly's," Johnny suggested. "They make good sundaes there. And it's close. That'd work."

Nadine turned to the kids. "What do you say, guys?"

"Yay!"

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "No, no, what do you say to Johnny?"

This time, an appropriate chorus: "Thank you, Johnny."

"No problem." He gestured for them to lead the way and caught the sour look that the little dark-haired boy shot him when he reached out and grabbed Nadine's hand in his, linking their fingers. "I think we deserve it."

~*~*~*~*~*~

**.: Kelly's Diner :.**

They had managed to snag a table for themselves outside and watched the rest of the kids as they ate. Nadine had gone with a lemonade and he'd done the same. Sundaes weren't really his thing. Besides, he made it a point never to order anything sticky or drippy whenever he was with a cute girl – the potential for accidents was too great, plus the image wasn't all that attractive.

"You never told me you hung out with the kids at the community center," he said, lifting his legs onto the empty chair in front of him as he awaited her response.

Nadine shrugged. "Nope."

"Why not?"

She shrugged again and sipped her lemonade. "I don't know. Just never came up."

Johnny smirked mischievously, nudging her with his elbow. "What else are you hiding from me, Crowell?"

"I don't know," Nadine replied, feigning innocence. "What else do you want to know?"

He leaned in closer, making sure to wiggle his eyebrows suggestively. It always made her blush when he did that, and Johnny _loved_ to make Nadine blush. "Oh, I want to know _everything_."

She rolled her eyes and gave him a gentle shove. "You would."


	6. Name a book that matters

**Note – **I misspoke when I talked about the Notify feature. Please check the Site Rules forum way up top for the "Notify/Bookmark" thread to see how you can get an email every time I update a story of YOUR interest. (That is, you get an email only when you select a story to be notified about, not every single time I update any story.)

Wooing Miss Crowell | 5

**~ Name a book that matters. ~**

**.: Crimson Manor :.**

He had a little time to kill before he had to drive in to Port Charles, so Johnny headed into the library to find a book to read. The library at Crimson Manor was one of his favorite rooms in the whole house, and it was all his now that their father was no longer with them. Claudia didn't read much anymore and only took up a couple shelves with her favorite works, which left the rest of the massive, three-story chamber to him.

Johnny strolled around the first floor, then took the stairs up to the second floor and walked around some more, then took the winding stairs up to the dizzying third floor where he found a first edition of one of his favorite books. It was collecting dust, mostly since the last few times he'd read it, he'd jotted down notes in the margins of the newer, cheaper, paperback version that could be found at any mass book retailer across the country.

This hardbound first edition, with the yellowed pages and fragile, crinkling paper and frayed threads in the binding, this one was special. This one was important. This one mattered.

He descended to the first floor and tucked himself away in a sunlit corner to read, and about ten minutes into the third chapter (he hardly ever reread a book from the first page; it was so predictable), he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

His butler, a tall, slender, stately man with silver hair and a perpetually upturned nose, stood in the doorway. "Sir, Messrs. Walsh and Brock are here to see you. They say you gave them an assignment of the utmost importance, an assignment which they have completed and wish to share with you."

Walsh and Brock were two of his recon men. Whenever he needed information, they were the ones he put on the case. They did superb work, and Johnny was looking forward to their report.

"Let them into my office, Reivers."

"Very good, Master John."

He noted his page and got up, stretching before he sauntered out of the library with the book tucked into the crook of his arm. Reivers had already shown the men into his office and they were waiting for him with two files in hand.

"What have you got?"

"Here you go, John." Walsh stepped forward and handed him the reports. "Pseudonyms William and Marion Parker. Everything you wanted. We can-"

"This is perfectly fine," he assured them, flopping down in his chair. "You can go now. Thanks again."

The men nodded and quickly filed out of his office, leaving him to peruse the information he'd been handed. The files contained copious and comprehensive background checks on Bill and Mary Parker, the young couple who had asked him to pose for pictures with Nadine, Elizabeth, and Jake.

Johnny set the files side by side on his desk and began to go through them. First, he smirked. Then, he smiled. Then he was grinning. Then he let out a little chuckle here, a little snort there, a little bark of laughter, too. And by the end, when he came to the end of the files, he was flat-out guffawing, unable to hold his laughter in.

"Oh, man," he muttered, closing the files and sweeping them into one of his many locked drawers. "Too fucking funny."

Just as he'd thought, the Parkers weren't exactly who they said they were. And Johnny had every intention of sitting back and letting them work their magic on the unsuspecting town.

~*~*~*~*~*~

**.: General Hospital :.**

She saw him in the little lounge off the hallway leading to the administrative section of the building where all the board meetings were held and all the offices were. Johnny was sitting on the long couch, his legs up and ankles leisurely crossed, completely absorbed in the weathered old book he held.

For a moment, Nadine deliberated over whether or not to go in and interrupt him. It was always nice to see him – the least reason not being that he was terribly nice to look at – but she didn't want to burst in and break his concentration if he was so taken with his book.

In the end, the decision was made for her. As if sensing her presence in the hallway, Johnny looked up and, seeing her standing there in her pink scrubs, grinned and immediately straightened, swinging his impossibly long legs to the floor.

"Nadine, hey."

"Hi," she smiled brightly, entering the room. "What are you doing here? Board meeting?"

"Board meeting," he confirmed. "I was already here when I got a message that it had been postponed for an hour. I had a book with me, so I thought I'd just sit here."

"A book, huh?" She reached for his copy and held it, finding it surprisingly heavy. "What, no Kindle?"

Johnny smirked at her teasing. "The DRM technology is a nightmare on that thing. They had no business releasing it until they worked out all the issues, mechanical and legal."

"So you don't have one?"

"I didn't say I didn't have one." He laughed when she rolled his eyes. "I keep one around, kind of as a backup resource. Sometimes I pretend that it's like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Even if I'm drunk and broke in some strange city, for whatever reason, I'll still be able to access Google Maps and Wikitravel and Wikipedia to figure out where I am and what it's like and how to get home."

Nadine was laughing at his sheepish admission, and now perched herself on the arm of the couch he was sitting on, his book in her lap. "I _loved_ that book. It was one of my favorites growing up."

"Yeah?" He dropped his arm on the couch behind her. "What's your favorite book now?"

"Probably _Wuthering Heights,_" she replied after a pause. "It's so complicated and twisted and layered, and I find something new every time I read it, which goes a long way as far as naming any book as your favorite, I think."

"I'd agree with that," Johnny nodded. "Finding something new every time you read the book lends itself to the idea that a story can be a living piece of art, that it's timeless. Although, I don't know if I'd go that far with _Wuthering Heights…_"

"I like it," Nadine said stubbornly, playing with his book. "Even though it's probably destroyed my chances of having a healthy relationship."

Johnny's gaze became half-lidded. "Damn that Emily Bronte," he dead-panned.

Nadine laughed, self-consciously tucking an errant blonde curl behind her ear, and nimbly changed the subject as she always did when he leered at her that way. "…So, uh, what's your favorite book?"

"You're holding it," he said, gesturing to the hardbound in her hand. "It's by Nabokov. _Speak, Memory_. His memoir. Just beautiful."

"Yeah?" She flipped through it carefully with renewed interest. "I've never read it. Or even heard about it."

"I discovered it during my first year at Oxford. An extraordinary book by an extraordinary writer." He took it from her and weighed it contemplatively in his hands. "His description of his governess. His chapter on his uncle Ruka, who he got his estate from before he lost it in the revolution. Falling in love for the first time when he was ten years old. His love affair with Valentina when he was seventeen. His depiction of his father…I'd never read anything like it. This book, more than any I'd found before it, _mattered_ to me."

She was watching him intently while he was speaking and now that he'd stopped, the silence felt uncomfortable. He'd just shared something meaningful, and Nadine wished she had something meaningful to share back. But she was never one to fake that sort of thing and instead just said what came naturally.

"I've never read any Nabokov," she admitted with a half-shrug. "My old roommate loved Russian writers, though."

"Nabokov's one of the best," Johnny told her, "along with Chekhov, in my opinion. You can borrow this book, if you want, to check it out."

Her eyes flew to his. "Really?"

"Sure." He took her hand and placed the book in it, waiting until her fingers wrapped around the spine before letting go. "Take it. And be sure to let me know what you think."

~*~*~*~*~*~

**.: Staff Lounge, General Hospital :.**

Nadine didn't hear Elizabeth until the older nurse was practically next to her.

"Hey, you."

"What? Oh!" She sat up on the couch, straightening her hair. She had two hours between her double shifts and figured she'd lie down and read for a bit. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing, I just thought I'd come see if you were free to get something from the caf before our shifts start." Elizabeth slid her a knowing side-long look. "You know, on the off-chance that Johnny wasn't around."

Nadine didn't catch the disapproval in her tone. "Nope, he's not around. He left me his book, though. I just got through with the second chapter."

"His book?"

Nadine held it up. "We were talking about it earlier and he lent it to me."

"Earlier today?"

She nodded. "He was here for his board meeting and had to leave right after."

"You guys have been spending a lot of time together over the past two weeks," Elizabeth murmured, her concern evident. "Are you sure that's…smart?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…you know what he _does_." Elizabeth whispered the last part. "It's not exactly an ideal life style."

"First of all, it's not like we're dating," Nadine informed her. "We're just friends."

"Even so, you'll be mixed up in his life as a friend, too."

"I can handle myself."

"A lot of people think that," Elizabeth shrugged. "But then it turns out to be more than they bargained for. I used to think that, back when I was friends with Jason Morgan."

Nadine stood and tucked the book under her arm, and her voice when she spoke was free of malice and condescension. "Don't take this the wrong way, Elizabeth, because you know I don't mean it like that, but there's a big difference between you and me."

Even though it hadn't been said in an antagonistic manner, Elizabeth still arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"You're older than I am," Nadine pointed out. "And you've got two little kids. And you're the wife of a police officer. Obviously, you can't be friends with a mobster."

Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something, but Nadine didn't notice.

"As for me, I don't have any of those things to weigh me down. Not that I mean that kids and a husband are weights," she added quickly, "but when you have to make decisions for yourself, you absolutely _have _to keep them in mind, too, because they matter and they color your whole perspective. I'm not married and I don't have any kids – I don't even have any pets. I'm about as unattached as you could be. And I don't' have any conflict of interest like you do – with Lucky being a cop or anything. If I want to hang out with Johnny, I'm the only one affected. And I bear the responsibility for it, which is something I'm already willing to do."

She shrugged and grabbed her friend's arm, pulling her along. "Come on, let's go get something to eat."


	7. Know at least 1 musical group well

**Note – **I had a bit of a snafu the other day when I accidentally deleted this whole forum of incomplete Nohnny stories. I reposted this story, obviously, but I lost all the awesome feedback you guys left me. :( I'd love it if you left more so we can build the feedback thread right back up. :) I loved hearing what y'all had to say.

**Wooing Miss Crowe | 6**

**~ Know at least one musical group as well as is possible. ~**

**.: Versailles Room :.**

They weren't at the Nurse's Ball _together_, but they were sitting together, so Johnny was going to count it as a win.

He glanced at his sister, who was smiling her Cheshire cat grin as she gave Nadine the third degree, and grimaced. Okay, maybe a half-win. A quarter-win.

Ugh. Goddamn Claudia.

But Nadine didn't seem to mind and even seemed to be holding her own with his sister. He heard her mentioning an old cartoon called Fraggle Rock, and something to do with cocaine, and realized that Nadine had hit on the secret of dealing with his sister.

All the other women that he'd ever slept with – the ones that Claudia managed to track down and harass, that is – always focused too much on impressing her. They simpered, they cooed, they agreed emphatically with everything she said until Claudia had them running in circles. His sister would catch on immediately to their cloying sycophancy and would dismiss them quite rudely and publicly, and that would be the end of that.

Nadine, on the other hand, had discovered the most effective tactic: bafflement. She was so naturally bubbly and quirky, filled to the brim with esoteric references and quite given to rambling, and Claudia had no idea what to do with her.

His sister would try to say something about any past relationships Nadine might have had and in a span of about a minute and a half, Nadine would have jumped from relationships to two straws in a milkshake to Italian ice to icicles to her first trip to the city as a kid to the alley cats she saw that she wanted to adopt and then to the one-eyed pit bull that shared their farmhouse back home, and she'd end it with one of Aunt Rayleen's aphorisms, and Claudia would look like she'd been run over by a truck.

Excellent.

"Wait, I'm sorry." His sister looked like she'd come down with a terrible headache. "But _what_ is a hoe-down? And if it doesn't involve prostitutes, I'm going to officially hate you."

"A hoe-down's a lot like a shin-dig, actually."

"A what?"

"A hootenanny."

"Who's hooting at the nanny?"

"Sock hop."

"I'd slit your throat right now if it wouldn't ruin my dress."

"Claudia!" He glared at her and she glared right back, but Nadine didn't seem terribly concerned. "Can we please get through this evening without any death threats? Please."

"No promises," she grumbled, watching sourly as Nadine sipped her wine. "Just so long as the milkmaid cools it with the Farmer's Almanac talk."

"Just shut up and watch the show," Johnny hissed, forcing a smile when Nadine quirked a brow at him. "Not you, of course."

"Of course," she allowed slyly, and he shot her a playful glare. "…I wonder what's taking so long. Isn't the next act supposed to be up?"

"Looks like they're having some difficulty," he murmured, pointing out Lucy at the corner of the stage. She was engaged in serious conversation with one of the stagehands and didn't look pleased. "And you know, that Nirvana cover is going to be a hard act to follow."

"There was a time when I ate, slept, and breathed Nirvana," Nadine sighed, surprising both Johnny and Claudia. "What? I like music."

"We pegged you as a showtunes girl," Claudia informed her breezily. "Particularly Rent."

"…I do like Rent," Nadine huffed, the corner of her mouth curving down. "I don't think that makes me a bad person."

"Yes, it does."

"Claudia was discovered by our butler last week, humming Miley Cyrus songs as she signed employment contracts," Johnny said loudly, causing Claudia to gape at him in horror. "What?"

"That was uncalled for!"

"Next time, try not to be a raging bitch."

"Jackass."

"Tween."

"So what's your favorite group or artist or whatever?" Nadine interrupted, not at all trying to hide the fact that she didn't want them bickering.

Johnny thought about it for a moment, but it was Claudia that answered.

"Mozart. He's always liked Mozart the best."

"Yeah?"

Johnny nodded. "I've been playing his compositions since I started playing the piano. There's just no one better."

"John started composing when he was a kid, too," Claudia added. "Just like Mozart. Because neither one of them had any friends."

Johnny glared sharply at his sister over Nadine's head, causing the nurse to impulsively reach out and settle her hand over his. If it surprised John, he didn't let it show, but Claudia's perfectly plucked brows jumped so high that they practically met her hairline.

"What do you like best about him?"

"…He could just as easily write these stark, simple melodies as he could these beautiful, intellectual, complicated pieces," Johnny said slowly. "He was never satisfied with what he did, and he knew he could do so much more. It made him difficult, yes, and people didn't always get him, but there was such a mind under that temperament and frustration. Such a mind, such passion and talent."

"I'd love to hear you play sometime," Nadine said hesitantly. She'd been watching him as he spoke, and his admiration and enthusiasm was unmistakable. "I mean, you know, if you ever feel like it."

"There's a piano on that stage," Claudia pointed out. "Behind that curtain. Dare you to go up and play something, John. It doesn't look like they're interested in putting on much of a show, anyway."

The last part was said loud enough for people to hear, but, of course, since it was Claudia Zacchara, no one so much as sniffed in her direction. On the stage, Lucy had overheard the remark and her gestures grew more frantic as she quickly tried to rectify the situation.

"You know what?" Johnny twisted his napkin in his hands and then threw it down on the table. "I think I'll take you up on that."

And before Nadine or Claudia could call out to him, he was out of his chair and sauntering down the steps toward the massive stage. Lucy saw him approach and Johnny flicked his wrists, motioning to the curtains as he climbed the steps.

The stage hand standing nearby pulled the curtains apart, revealing a beautiful black piano. Johnny smiled pleasantly at Lucy as he walked on past and took a seat on the bench.

"Allow me to buy you some time," he said graciously before turning around and placing his fingers on the keys. A few seconds ticked by as he deliberated over what to play, and then he had it.

His fingers moved smoothly over the keys, fluidly, coaxing out lovely sonorous notes that filled the room, floating idly and congregating raucously, in alternation. Johnny's lashes fluttered, his eyes half-closed, and he played the entire piece from memory. Nadine could see him clearly from her seat, and she saw the depth of his concentration and involvement. Every person had that one thing that enabled him or her to truly let themselves go; it was clear to all in the room that Johnny Zacchara's truest form of expression was the music filling the Versailles hall.

He played and played, and kept playing long after they thought he'd stop, not that anyone would have complained. The piece he selected was light and whimsical, and then brooding and contemplative, and he kept it lively and compelling.

His performance gave Lucy some much-needed time to pull the show together, and when Johnny finally let the last notes trail off into silence and then enthusiastic applause, she was ready to go.

Johnny didn't appear to truly hear the applause and whistles as he wandered back to his seat, and Nadine would recall later that his eyes were a little distant, his expression wistful and soft. But then he sat down next to her, and the motion must have jarred him back into the present because he quirked a little smile at her.

"Next time, I expect you to put on a lively rendition of La Vie Boheme."


	8. Cook meat somewhere other than the grill

**Note – **Yes, Port Charles's neighboring town, or one of them, is Shelbyville. Because I am a huge Simpsons fan.

**Wooing Miss Crowell | 07**

**~ Cook meat somewhere other than the grill. ~**

**.: Nadine's Apartment:.**

"You know," she said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him as he stood in the middle of her humble living room, happily perusing the long list she'd just handed him, "I could have easily emailed this to you. Or faxed it over. Or sent a carrier pigeon."

Johnny shrugged good-naturedly. "I was in town," he lied. "It was easier to just stop by and pick it up, see what was what."

"Have you seen what's what?" Nadine smirked, and this time it was his turn to narrow his eyes.

"You're mocking me, aren't you?"

"A little," she shrugged, moving past him toward the kitchen and feeling a little awkward that there was no wall between the two rooms. She was always aware that her apartment was small, but with him standing right in the middle of it, tall and broad-shouldered, it just made it feel even tinier. "You talk weird."

"Madame, you wound me."

"That doesn't help, you know." She opened the refrigerator and glanced at him. "Want some iced sweet tea?"

"Sure," he said, secretly pleased that she'd offered him something to drink. When she had mentioned a wish list for the clinic, he figured it was his ticket over here to see her, maybe spend some time in her apartment, and just hang out. He'd done a good job of happening to run into her around town – sometimes intentionally, sometimes not – and from what he could tell, she felt comfortable enough around him. If he kept it up, he had every reason to believe that she'd let down her guard and disregard her ridiculous rule about not dating him.

He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she pulled out the glasses and dropped ice cubes in them, taking the time to stealthily move right into the middle of her living room. By the time Nadine came back, he was already sprawled out on her couch, still skimming the list in the bright sunlight. He could feel her hesitate a little, as if from surprise, and then Nadine set their glasses down on coasters before easing down on the couch next to him.

He was determined to keep his tone casual and light. "There are a lot of toys on this list, obviously – have you guys already tried to get grants for this? Strike up some kind of deal with one of the toy manufacturers in the area? Fisher Price has a plant about 60 miles from here. They're probably the closest. Does the hospital have any existing contracts with any comparable company already?"

Nadine shook her head. "The clinic is separate from the hospital – the charter provided for that. We've sent out grant proposals for federal funds, but we miss out on a lot of grants just because we don't meet some of the qualifications. Like, even though it would be a free clinic for children, we still don't qualify as not-for-profit – and because of that, we miss all those state and federal and even some private grants - because we're still under shareholder control, because General Hospital is a private hospital, even though our funds aren't mixed. Does that make sense? Sorry if it doesn't make sense. I swear it makes sense in my head."

"It makes sense," Johnny smirked, still perusing the list. "You _do _remember that I have a business degree from Oxford, right? I understand the problem."

"Good, maybe you can explain it to me sometime," Nadine grumbled. "My head almost exploded when I had to read the charter and explain it to the other nurses."

"I'm sure you did fine," he laughed, setting it down on the table. "You explained the grant problem very well just now – I'm sure you passed muster."

"There you go, talking weird again. And people make fun of _my_ yokel expressions."

"People dare make fun of Aunt Rayleen?" he asked in mock-indignation. "They should really know better."

"Oh, no, no one's ever made fun of Aunt Rayleen and lived to tell about it," Nadine chirped, and he believed her. "Just the random little words I use. Jeepers creepers. Hoe-down. Gopher gravy."

"Gopher gravy?"

Her smile turned mischievous. "Okay, so sometimes I just mess with 'em. Sue me."

Johnny let out a bark of laughter. "Nice."

They sat in comfortable silence and sipped the tea, and then Johnny turned to her. "You know, I think I can help you with a lot of the stuff on the list. I have some contacts that will probably be able to get you all the kids' toys you'd ever need for that place, and basic sanitation supplies like gloves and rubbing alcohol and hand sanitizer dispensers, that sort of thing. One of my friends runs a medical supply company and I'm sure we can work something out."

Her eyes lit up. "That'd be great! I was hoping I could get something together for that – I've already gotten all the tongue depressors and Q-tips I'll ever need from this lab supply company two towns over, but they didn't have sanitation supplies to spare. Thank you so much."

"It's not a problem," he told her honestly, "and I'm happy to help. And I was planning on making a donation to the clinic anyway, so that should help underwrite at least some of the costs, I hope. And I bet Nikolas is chipping in, too."

"Yeah, but we don't want to tap him out," she admitted. "He's already done so much, and spent so much time and money on the clinic."

"Tell you what – I bet I can even get Claudia to donate a little something. She'll do it if I tell her that Carly and Sonny and one or two of the hospital's board members said they didn't want Zacchara money funding any part of the hospital."

Nadine had to grin at that. "Oh, she'll _totally _go for that. She's so easy that way."

Johnny smirked and picked up the list again, and Nadine picked up their empty glasses, looking down at him and tilting her head. "…You know, I should have turned you down months ago."

He sent her a sour look, crumpled the list into a ball, and pitched it at her head as she retreated. "Yeah, thanks."

With nothing else to do, he followed her into the kitchen as she began to rummage through her cabinets. "What are you doing?"

"Foraging for snacks," came the reply. "Making fun of you made me hungry. Plus, I've been told good hostesses feed their guests."

He watched in amusement as she continued to search. "Well? What did you find?"

"Just this." Nadine held out a sample size box of shredded wheat. "Doing anything for you?"

Johnny made a face. "Um, no, thanks. I like my food…not packaged."

She just shrugged. "Whatever. More for me!"

He peered around her tiny kitchen as she tore the bag open ravenously and began to munch. "…Is that really all you have in your kitchen?"

"I've got some lemon juice. And ice. Does that count?"

"No."

"…And I've got nutmeg!" she added excitedly, hoping that at least that counted. "A ten pound drum of it. I bought it at Cost Effective Mart."

He was staring at her with something akin to disgust and dismay in his eyes. "…I really hope that's some of your farm humor."

"It's not."

He winced – actually winced – and then looked around again. "So…what are you going to do for dinner?"

Nadine held up her shredded wheat. "Since you're not having any, this _is_ dinner. And tomorrow morning I'll just pig out at the hospital cafeteria. I've got a good meal plan there. They pay us about six thousand under what the nurses in Shelbyville make, but that's because we all get to eat for free and the hospital has all those awesome chefs making awesome things every single awesome day."

He was still fixated on her pathetic box of cereal. "…_THAT is your dinner?"_

"Sure, why not?" She'd barely finished the question before he grabbed the box from her hands, marched over to the window, and dumped it all down the fire escape.

"Hey! I was eating that!"

"Now it's the pigeons' problem," he muttered, waggling the box in front of her nose as she glowered at him. "By the way? It was expired."

"It was only a _little_ expired. Now I have to run down to the bodega around the corner and get a sandwich or something."

"Those disgusting, soggy, wimpy things wrapped in saran wrap?" Johnny was already shaking his head. "No, no, you're not eating that shit. That's not people-food."

Nadine planted her hands on her hips and glared. "If I had known you were this bossy, I wouldn't have invited you in."

"Trust me," he smirked, leaning in just a little and delighting in the way her eyes widened. "You'll be glad you did in about a half hour."

She blinked as he moved easily past her and toward the fridge to grab a Post-It off her little magnet pad. "What's going to happen in a half hour?"

"My guard is going to get back from the store with a couple things," Johnny replied cryptically, jotting something down on the Post-it. "Do you at least have salt here?"

"Yes."

"Cinnamon?"

"Yes."

"Olive oil? Almonds?"

"Normal people don't have those things." She said it just to bait him, knowing how he loved both olive oil and almonds, being an Italian boy, and was rewarded when he lifted his head and shot her a bland look.

"Pepper?"

"Whole thing of it."

"Great." He finished up his list and opened the door, passing it to his guard with a couple words. He shut the door and turned around to face her. "Well, we've got half an hour to kill until you get a proper meal."

"A half an hour," she murmured, nibbling on her lip as he sauntered over to her until he was just a scant distance away. "That's…a bit of a while."

Johnny smiled and tilted his head a little, his dark eyes glittering. "I've got a few ideas as to how we can keep ourselves entertained."

"Aw, it's a family of _ducks_ under the bridge! That's what all the yellow pieces were!"

Johnny didn't even pretend to be excited at this new development as he and Nadine sat on the floor by her coffee table, facing each other, a small puzzle mostly completed in between them.

God damn, he hated puzzles.

However, there hadn't been much that he could do when she slipped away from him while he was trying to fricking seduce her and gaily suggested they do a puzzle. He was slipping; that was the only possible explanation. He couldn't remember the last time that he'd used that low drawl and coy but knowing head tilt on a girl and she'd opted to fit small pieces of cardboard together instead of fall into bed with him. In fact…that had never once happened!

God damn, he hated puzzles.

But a knock on the door saved him from finding out what was sitting under the stupid apple tree, and Johnny bolted for it as Nadine tried to hide her smile. She snickered to herself as she swept the partially completed puzzle and the unused pieces into a pile, and then dumped those in the box. He'd been so cute for the past forty minutes, fidgeting and pouting while she rambled about puzzles and farm life. He deserved it for trying to come on to her so transparently, though.

"Took you long enough," she heard him grouse to his guard as he took the two grocery bags and shut the door. He made his way directly to the kitchen and Nadine followed, hands tucked into her back pocket as he started unpacking and getting to work.

"…Whatcha doin'?"

"Making us some dinner," he smiled pleasantly. "Can you grab me that big frying pan?"

She lifted it from its hook on the wall and handed it over. "What did you get?"

"I got us steaks and a vegetable side and dessert. Put the rest of that in the fridge."

"Steaks?" She put the things away without even looking at them. "But those will take forever, and you threw my dinner out the window, and I'm hungry _now._ And I don't have a grill!"

"I don't need a grill, I just need this frying pan," Johnny informed her. "And it'll be ready in under twenty minutes."

"You lie."

"I do not," he huffed. "Remember how I told you I went to Oxford?"

"Yeah, you won't shut up about it."

He knew she was teasing from the way she tried to pinch her lips together so she wouldn't smile, but Johnny still pretended to glare at her. "That was the first time I ever had to cook for myself, and I didn't have hours to waste on creating gourmet meals like what our cooks here made me. So I learned to make quick meals. Twenty minutes. Time me."

She watched him suspiciously as he got out a big bowl, along with the salt, cinnamon, olive oil and almonds.

"Mix the spices, toss the almonds with olive oil, and dump the spices in," he ordered. "I'll take care of the rest."

By the time Nadine had the seasoned almonds toasting in a little tray in her toaster oven, Johnny had two marbled skirt steak pieces going in the frying pan.

"You're doing it on the stove?"

"I usually grill them when time and resources allow," he said, "but at school the stove was usually the best option. Besides, a guy's gotta know how to cook meat somewhere other than the grill." Johnny adjusted the range again and felt her eyes on him. "…What?"

"That's what my Uncle Bert used to say," she said, regarding him with a little smile and a strange look in her eyes. "Aunt Rayleen's husband."

"I gathered," Johnny murmured with a faint smile. "So, uh, how do you take your steak?"

"On the light side of medium rare. A little blood never hurt anyone."

"That's what I like to hear," he grinned proudly. "There's no other way to eat steak than with a little blood. And these are almost done."

"That didn't take long at all."

"Just three minutes on each side for medium rare," he explained. "That's why pan-searing is actually what I prefer for this sort of thing. You heat the pan up so it's really hot and then the steak cooks perfectly. Take these out for me and I'll get the sprouts ready."

As soon as the steaks were on the plates, Johnny had the shredded brussel sprouts in the frying pan. He waited a minute, squeezed on some fresh lemon juice, stirred until they wilted, and spooned them into a large bowl Nadine held. She got the salad spoon and fork while he pulled the almonds out of the toaster oven and dumped them on top, and they transferred everything over to the cramped part of her counter that served as her breakfast nook with two tall stools and all.

"See? Didn't I say twenty minutes?" He tapped on his Rolex. "And with time to spare."

"So what do you want, a medal?" she asked, throwing her hands in the air and laughing when he jostled her with his shoulder. "All right, time to say grace."

He was more than used to saying grace, having grown up in a very Catholic household, and automatically reached for her hand. It was only when she slipped it into his that he realized he was holding her hand and barely heard her recite a short prayer.

"Our Father in Heaven, normally I say a prayer before I eat what You have provided. But Johnny actually knows how to cook, so I'm not going to pray over my food tonight."

He snorted with laughter without meaning to, and kept a firm hold of her soft, warm hand in his when she tried to pull it away. "Cute, but no. Allow me."

Johnny cleared his throat and Nadine set down her fork. "Thank you, Lord, for this food which is set before us. May we use it to nourish our bodies, and Thee to nourish our souls. Make us ever more mindful of the needs of others, and the needs of our planet. Through Christ, Our Lord, Amen."

"…That was nice."

He barely lifted his gaze from his plate as he fiddled with his fork. "My, um…my mother's prayer."

"For food in a world where many walk in hunger, for faith in a world where many walk in fear, for friends in a world where many walk alone, we give You thanks, Our Lord. Amen." She tilted her head and lightly nudged him with her elbow. "My Aunt Rayleen's."

"I've never heard that one before."

"She said it for Uncle Bert," Nadine smiled. "He's from way up north, almost Canada. It's a prayer from the Canadian church or something. Aunt Rayleen never cared about the differences between Catholics and Baptists and Methodists and Presbyterians and all that. She always said that they were all Christians as far as she was concerned, like her, and that every sect had its truth and every truth had its sect."

Johnny had to smile at that. "My mother said there was an old Italian proverb – many who scruple to spit in church defile the altar."

"If the universe was fair, we'd have been able to get them together for tea or something," Nadine said, waving her fork in the air as he smiled. "They'd have given Poor Richard a run for his almanac-writing."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"You know, this isn't half bad." She stabbed at her brussel sprouts and lifted the fork to her lips. "And I don't normally like brussel sprouts."

"It depends on how they're prepared. How's your steak?"

"Perfect," Nadine said happily. "I can't believe how quick and easy that was. Normally, I avoid cooking because I ruin everything – I even found a way to make water taste bitter. But I think I could do this. With the proper materials."

"Lemon juice and olive oil and stuff?"

"Welding mask, HAZMAT suit…"

He laughed and their knees bumped together under the counter. It was hardly an unpleasant way to spend the evening together, and he was glad that instinct led him to invite himself over earlier that day. So far, his plan was proceeding perfectly. Normally, he liked to sprint toward the finish line, it was true. But all these lazy afternoons with Nadine, in the park with her Little League, drinking lemonade at Kelly's, making dinner at her place, were like a cheerful walk through the park. He didn't mind the leisurely pace because the view along the way was so agreeable.

She bumped her knee against his and let her leg rest there. "Hey. Thanks for making me dinner."

Johnny smiled back easily. "You're welcome."


End file.
